2024WAFI Observation| Xu Qinyi, Institute of Carbon Neutralization at Peking University: What opportunities and challenges are faced in the green and low-carbon transformation of China's dairy supply chain?
The 2024 World Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Conference (WAFI) recently concluded in Pinggu, Beijing. As the "Davos" of agricultural science and technology, climate change and the transformation of agri-food systems have become the key topics of this conference.
As an important part of the agri-food industry, the dairy industry is not only directly related to food green safety and public physical and mental health, but also to a large extent related to the ecological environment and climate change. Dairy supply chain green transformation and low-carbon management side event held concurrently at WAFI(Sponsored by Peking University School of Modern Agriculture, Green Finance 60 Forum, and Carbon Neutralization Special Committee of China Food and Drug Enterprise Quality and Safety Promotion Association (to be established))In an exclusive interview with China Environment APP, Xu Qinyi, a researcher at the School of International Relations at Peking University and a researcher at the Institute of Carbon Neutrality at Peking University, said that the dairy industry and its supply chain have huge emission reduction potential, and China's related industrial chains have multiple opportunities and advantages in global green transformation, and its green transformation and low-carbon development will show an accelerating trend in the future.
Xu Qinyi, a researcher at the School of International Relations, Peking University, and a researcher at the Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Peking University
The following is the full text of the exclusive interview:
China Environment APP: How to view the importance of green and low-carbon transformation of the global agricultural and food system? Taking the dairy industry as an example, what are the main challenges facing the current green transformation of global supply chains?
Xu Qinyi:Global climate change poses a serious threat to agricultural production and food security, and is related to the stability of international agricultural food supply and the food security of many countries. At the same time, agriculture and food systems are one of the major sources of global greenhouse gas emissions. Promoting the low-carbon transformation of the agricultural and food industry is an important way to mitigate the impact of climate change and achieve sustainable development.
The 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted the "United Arab Emirates Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Action." This is the first report in the history of the Conference of the Parties on agrifood systems and climate change. The declaration is also a core achievement of the COP28 agrifood systems agenda. The Global Agro-Food Transformation Initiative during COP28 is of great significance for promoting sustainable development of global agriculture, addressing climate change, and ensuring food security. The implementation of these initiatives and activities will help optimize the allocation of agricultural resources, improve agricultural production efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect the ecological environment, and provide strong support for the low-carbon transformation of the global agricultural and food industry. It also marks the importance of green transformation of the global agricultural and food industry, as well as the cooperation and consensus among countries in addressing climate change and promoting sustainable development.
As one of the main sources of global greenhouse gas emissions, the dairy industry has high carbon emissions and has huge emission reduction potential. Taking the dairy industry as an example, the main challenges facing the current green transformation of the global dairy supply chain focus on the complexity of carbon emission management, cost pressure, and insufficient policies and consumer awareness. The carbon emissions of the dairy industry cover many aspects from breeding to processing to logistics. Although many countries and enterprises have begun to pay attention to carbon footprint management, on a global scale, there are inconsistent standards and effective emission reduction tools and evaluation systems. The lack of systems, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, faces dual barriers of technology and cost.
In addition, insufficient awareness on the consumer side is also a constraint. The market demand for low-carbon products has not yet reached a scale, resulting in insufficient motivation for companies to promote the transformation of green supply chains. These factors work together to increase the difficulty of green transformation of the global dairy industry.
China Environmental APP: What opportunities and advantages do the development of China's dairy industry and other agricultural and food industries have in the global green transformation?
Xu Qinyi:China's dairy industry has multiple opportunities and advantages in the global green transformation. First of all, my country has launched a number of supporting policies in carbon neutrality and clean production, forming a "1+N" policy system, which provides a macro-level policy support framework for the low-carbon development of the dairy industry.
Specifically, in recent years, my government has implemented a series of policy measures aimed at promoting the transformation of agriculture, especially animal husbandry, which is closely related to the dairy industry, towards green and low-carbon. In June 2022, the "Agricultural and Rural Emission Reduction and Carbon Fixation Implementation Plan" jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs clearly defined six core tasks including animal husbandry emission reduction and carbon reduction. At the consumption level, national and local governments are actively promoting the innovation of green and low-carbon consumption models.
In January 2022, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting Green Consumption", which clarified that "fully integrate green concepts into the full cycle, full chain, and full system in all fields of consumption, and comprehensively promote consumption to green and low-carbon transformation." Strategic goal of "transformation and upgrading." The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China once again reiterated the need to advocate green consumption and promote the formation of green and low-carbon production and lifestyle, demonstrating my country's firm determination to promote comprehensive green transformation of the economy and society.
Driven by the "double carbon" goal and a series of policies, China's dairy industry is facing new challenges and new development opportunities such as achieving green and sustainable development while adjusting its industry structure and transforming and upgrading its enterprises.
China's dairy industry has a huge supply chain. Through large-scale technological innovation and digital management, companies can improve the efficiency of carbon emission management. Many leading dairy companies have achieved remarkable results in carbon footprint evaluation and green factory construction, forming a demonstration effect that leads the low-carbon development of the entire industry chain.
In addition, in terms of green finance, China has the world's largest green bond market. The green transformation of the dairy industry has huge financial support potential and can promote more companies to adopt low-carbon production models. Through the combination of policies, technology and capital, China's dairy industry has unique advantages and broad development opportunities in the global green transformation.
China Environmental APP: What technological innovations are currently being applied to the green transformation of the dairy supply chain?
Xu Qinyi:The green transformation of the dairy supply chain is promoting energy conservation, emission reduction and carbon footprint management through multiple technological innovations.
Among them, the construction of digital factories is an important direction. Through high automation and intelligent management, production efficiency can be significantly improved and energy consumption can be reduced. In addition, dairy factories use renewable energy such as solar power to replace traditional energy sources to further reduce carbon emissions.
Technological innovation in the logistics sector is also underway. Dairy companies are gradually reducing the use of fuel vehicles by optimizing the transportation structure and switching to electric logistics vehicles. At the same time, they are increasing the proportion of sea and rail transportation to reduce carbon emissions from land transportation.
Companies are also reducing the burden of packaging on the environment through circular economy principles and the use of renewable and degradable materials. The application of carbon footprint management tools is also expanding, such as carbon emission calculators and life cycle analysis tools, which help companies optimize production links through accurate carbon emission calculations and ultimately achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement.
China Environmental APP: Taking the dairy industry as an example, how do you view the future trend of green transformation and low-carbon development of the agricultural and food industry supply chain?
Xu Qinyi:The green transformation and low-carbon development of the agricultural and food industry will show an accelerating trend in the future. Taking dairy products as an example, it is mainly reflected in the application of digital technology, the popularization of clean energy and the extensive implementation of full life cycle management.
With the promotion of smart factories and digital management systems, dairy companies will be able to monitor carbon emissions in production in real time, optimize resource use through big data analysis, and reduce energy waste. Through carbon footprint evaluation tools and life cycle analysis, companies will achieve carbon emission management across the entire industry chain from dairy breeding, processing, logistics to packaging.
In addition, green finance and policy orientation will also provide more financial support for the dairy industry and promote enterprises to expand the application scale of low-carbon technologies. At the consumer level, as the public's awareness of sustainable development continues to increase, the market demand for low-carbon products is expected to further expand, and dairy companies will be able to enhance their competitiveness through green products.
